Am I doing too much for a farewell gift to an exchange student at school?

So there is this exchange student in my class and she is so kind. She's from Japan. I helped her to find her class one time and we talked for a bit. We also smile and wave at one another when we see each other but I am not in her friend group.

She is here for three weeks and at the end I want to give her some art (as it is what I love doing, I like giving people things I spent time on as it feels meaningful) of maybe a NZ landscape (as usually exchange students say they'll miss that the most about our country) with a note on the back. I'm thinking a Maori whakatauki translated to Japanese for her as well as a letter about how much I'll miss her and all the things.

I just don't want to come off as creepy? Like if I don't know her well enough to be giving her this I don't want to seem weird. However I also think if I was her I'd love to receive something like that.

Posted Aug 14, 2026, 6:09 AM UTC

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